Listen to Evangeline Lilly Speak Elvish!

The Hobbit star defends her new character and reveals that "The cells are empty" in her new native tongue.

Evangeline Lilly may have dated a hobbit before – her Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan – but that just wasn't enough for her. She's now co-starring in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit as Tauriel, a woodland elf who did not appear in J.R.R. Tolkien's original novel. Access Hollywood got themselves a fun little interview with the gorgeous actress, who spoke some Elvish for them, including the line, "The cells are empty," which should give existing Hobbit fans some indication of where she fits into the film.

Afterwards, she worried that fans of The Lord of the Rings would turn on her character because, as a new creation, Tauriel is "not authentic." Her response to those concerns: "I believe she is truly authentic, because Tolkien refers to the Woodland Elves. He just doesn't talk about who they are specifically. […] Pete, Fran and Phil, they're not going to create a character who is not true to Tolkien's world," she said, referring to Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Hobbit.